The Federal Child Support Guidelines:
Step-by-Step

Line-by-line help for Worksheet 1

Calculating your annual income

Can you use this worksheet?

You can use this worksheet if:

  • you pay or will pay child support,
  • you or the other parent is asking for an amount for special expenses, or
  • you or the other parent is claiming undue hardship.

Before you start

Have your documents ready

To complete this worksheet, you will need the most recent income information for:

  • you, and
  • any person whose income is needed to calculate child support amounts.

Please see Step 5: calculate annual income for more information.

The documents you will need include:

  • federal income tax returns for the past three taxation years,
  • the schedules to those federal income tax returns,
  • Canada Revenue Agency notices of assessment and notices of reassessment, and
  • pay slips or other income records, if you need them.
Use up-to-date income information

If the information in your federal income tax returns and schedules reflect your most recent income information, you can use that information to complete this worksheet.

If your income has changed since you filed your federal income tax return you should use information from:

  • the Canada Revenue Agency notice of assessment or reassessment,
  • recent pay slips, or
  • other income records.

See step 5 for information on calculating income for child support under the guidelines.

Use only the parts of this worksheet that apply to you

This worksheet has a lot of lines to cover all income possibilities. If your source of income is straightforward, you will only need to fill in a few lines to complete the worksheet. Skip any lines that do not apply to your situation.

Does your income change a lot from year to year?

If your income changes a lot from year to year, you can look at your income over the last three years to calculate your average annual income for the guidelines if that would most closely reflect your actual income.

Are you a director, officer or shareholder of a corporation?

If you are a director, officer or shareholder of a corporation, your income tax return might not fairly reflect all the money available to you for child support. In that case, you may need to consider other factors to establish your annual income for child support purposes.

You can look up definitions of income tax terms

Worksheet 1 refers to many income tax terms used by the Canada Revenue Agency. For example, the worksheet refers to “carrying charges.” For a definition of “carrying charges” and other terms, please refer to the Canada Revenue Agency publication called General Income Tax and Benefit Guide.

Total income before adjustments

line 1 – total income

You can use the amount on line 150 of your federal income tax return, if the return provides complete and up-to-date income information.

You may not always have an income tax return if, for example, you filed your income tax return by e-mail or telephone. In that case, you can use the amount on line 150 of your notice of assessment or notice of reassessment. Copy the amount from line 150 onto line 1.

If your federal income tax returns and schedules reflect your most recent income information, you can use that information to complete this worksheet. If your income has changed since you filed your federal income tax return you should use information from:

  • the Canada Revenue Agency notice of assessment or reassessment,
  • recent pay slips, or
  • other income records.

Copy your annual income based on those records on line 1.

There may be reasons why even the up-to-date income amount is still not the best reflection of your total income for child support. Please see If line 150 does not contain the most recent income information. If any of these circumstances apply to you, you can agree with the other parent on how they will affect income and change the amount on line 1. If you cannot agree, you can consider asking a professional, such as a mediator, for help or you can ask the court to decide for you.

Adjustments to total income

Deductions from income (use annual amounts)

You can deduct certain amounts from your income to calculate your annual income for child support purposes. Lines 2 to 10 list the items you can subtract from your line 1 income.

Please note that some amendments to the Federal Child Support Guidelines are not reflected in this worksheet. Additional adjustments may be required if your income includes an elected split-pension amount or if anyone in your household receives Universal Child Care Benefits (UCCB) for a child.

line 2 – any taxable child support received

Copy an amount on line 2 only if:

  • you received child support under an agreement or court order made before May 1, 1997, and
  • the total income amount you wrote on line 1 included that child support.

Look on line 128 of your federal income tax return to find the amount of child support you received during the year.

Please note that line 128 reports both taxable child and spousal support. Your court order or written agreement may set out how much of this amount is for child support and how much is for spousal support.

line 3 – spousal support received from the other parent

Copy an amount on line 3 only if the total income amount you wrote on line 1 includes spousal support. Look on line 128 of the federal income tax return to find the amount of spousal support you received during the year from the other parent.

Please note that line 128 reports both taxable child and spousal support. The amount of child support that you wrote on line 2 plus the amount of spousal support should equal the amount on line 128 of the federal income tax return. Copy the amount of spousal support received from the other parent on line 3.

line 4 – total expenses related to earning income

Find lines 212 and 229 of the federal income tax return, which are for expenses related to earning income. Copy the total of these expenses to line 4.

line 5 – social assistance

Find line 145 of the federal income tax return. To find the amount of social assistance received for other family members, copy the total amount of social assistance for the family that you receive on line 5A below. Identify the portion of this amount that is for your benefit. (If it is not clear what amount should be included for social assistance for you, please contact the social assistance office.) Copy your portion of social assistance on line 5B. Line 5A minus line 5B gives you the amount of social assistance received for other members of the family. Copy the amount on line 5C below to line 5 on Worksheet 1.

To calculate social assistance received for other members of the household

– =

line 5A - line 5B = line 5C

line 6 – dividends from taxable Canadian corporations

Find line 120 of the federal income tax return and copy the amount listed there to line 6A below. Next, determine the total amount of dividends received (usually found on your T5 slips). Copy that amount to line 6B. Finally, subtract the amount on line 6B from the amount on line 6A to calculate the excess portion. Copy the amount on line 6C below to line 6 of Worksheet 1.

To calculate the excess portion

– =

line 6A - line 6B = line 6C

line 7 – business investment losses

Find line 228 of your federal income tax return. Copy the amount of any business investment losses suffered during the year onto line 7.

line 8 – carrying charges and interest

Find line 221 of the federal income tax return. Copy the amount for the carrying charges and interest expenses onto line 8.

line 9 – prior-period earnings

This line will apply to you only if you are calculating income for any year before 2005. For tax year 2004 and the years before, your self-employed income for 12 months may include a reserve amount. (A reserve amount is an additional amount earned in a prior period). You must subtract the prior-period amounts from income. Prior-period amounts are on Canada Revenue Agency Form T1139 Reconciliation of Business Income for Tax Purposes, for years prior to 2005. Copy the prior-period amount to line 9.

line 10 – partnership or sole proprietorship

If you earned income through a partnership or a sole proprietorship, deduct any amount included in your income that is required by the partnership or sole proprietorship for capitalization purposes. Copy the amount on line 10.

line 11 – deductions to total income

To calculate the deductions to total income, add lines 2 to 10. Copy the total on line 11.

Additions to income (use annual amounts)

The income amount you report on line 150 of the federal income tax return does not include all types of income needed to calculate child support amounts. You must add the following amounts on lines 12, 13, 14 and 15.

line 12 – net actual gains

There are two kinds of capital gains: recurring and non-recurring. A recurring capital gain has an ongoing effect on your income: for example if you regularly buy and sell stocks. A non-recurring capital gain is a rare, or even a once-in-a-lifetime event: for example when you sell a cottage.

In most cases, if you have recurring capital gains, you must take into account the entire amount, as the amount on line 1 includes only taxable capital gains.

If you have non-recurring capital gains, the amount you include on Worksheet 1 may be excluded from this calculation.

To calculate the amount of capital gains for line 12

*Total capital gains (line 197 of “Schedule 3–Capital Gains (or Losses)” of the federal income tax return)

12A

Reported capital gains (line 127, federal income tax return)

12B

Capital gains for the guidelines (line 12A minus 12B)

12C

(Copy line 12C to line 12 in Worksheet 1)

*The amount on line 197 of Schedule 3 equals the total of capital gains for the year minus any capital losses. If this amount is zero or less than zero, copy “0” to line 12.

The amount you wrote on line 12A should not include any non-recurring gains or losses already accounted for in line 1.

line 13 – amounts to a non-arm's length individual

If you are self-employed and you have a business relationship with an individual like a family member (called a non-arm's length relationship), include any income amount for salaries, benefits, wages, management fees or other payments paid to, or on behalf of, the other person.

You don't need to include the amount if it is reasonable and it was necessary for you to have paid the amount to earn the self-employment income. Copy the amount to line 13.

line 14 – capital costs for real property

Include the amount you deducted for capital cost allowance for real property (for example, buildings). Copy the amount to line 14.

line 15 – employee stock options

Complete this line when you have exercised a stock option to purchase shares of a Canadian-controlled private corporation or a publicly traded corporation that is subject to the same tax treatment regarding stock options as a canadian-controlled private corporation.

To calculate the value of an employee stock option

Value of shares acquired through the exercise of a stock option (multiply the market value of one share by the number of shares)

15A

Amount paid for the stock options

15B

Amount paid for the shares

15C

Cost of shares (add lines 15B and 15C)

15D

Value of stock options (15A minus 15D)

15E

(Copy line 15E to line 15 in Worksheet 1)

Copy “0” on line 15 if you sold the shares in the same year you exercised the stock options to obtain the shares.

line 16 – total additions to income

Add lines 12, 13, 14 and 15. Copy the total to line 16.

line 17 – total income

Subtract line 11 from line 1 and add line 16.

Copy the result to line 17.

line 18 – annual income for the guidelines

Some parents may still need to do one more calculation to bring the income amount up to the level a judge would consider appropriate for the purposes of the guidelines. Please see More information on calculating annual income for examples of situations when this may occur.

If none of these apply to you, simply copy the amount from line 17 to line 18.

If one or more of these circumstances does apply to you, you may wish to change your income amount and copy the new amount to line 18. If you decide to add an amount to your income, that amount is discretionary, and you and the other parent should agree on it. If you cannot agree, you can ask a judge to decide.